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Six more bodies found near 'King of Stonehenge' site

Archaeologists have discovered six more bodies near the grave of the so-called King of Stonehenge.

The remains of four adults and two children were found at a site in Amesbury, Wiltshire.

It is about half-a-mile from that of the Amesbury Archer, the Bronze Age man who was buried with the earliest gold found in Britain.

It is thought he might have had a major role in creating Stonehenge. Tests showed he was born in the Alps region in central Europe.

The latest bones discovered are some 4,500 years old - the same age as the Archer, said Salisbury-based Wessex Archaeology - which excavated the site during the digging of a trench this month.

Radiocarbon tests will be done to find out more precise dates for the burials but the people are believed to have lived during the building of Stonehenge. Wessex Archaeology say it is possible the bones are those of people from different generations.

The bones of the earlier burials were mixed up, but those of the later burials, a man and a child, were undisturbed. They said the grave, which is about three miles from Stonehenge, had narrowly missed being damaged by trench digging for electric cables and a water pipe.

The grave contained four pots in the Beaker style that is typical of the period, some flint tools, one flint arrowhead and a bone toggle for fastening clothing.

Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick, of Wessex Archaeology, said: "This new find is really unusual. It is exceptionally rare to find the remains of so many people in one grave like this in southern England.

"The grave is fascinating because we are seeing the moment when Britain was moving from the Stone Age into the Bronze Age, around 2,300BC."